Maya Visnyei
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Food
Food Blog
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Food
Food Blog
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Food
Food Blog
Children are creatures of habit, in the best and the worst ways. Best: when they're wildly entertained every day by the same stupid game of hiding under a pillow while you "look" for them. Worst: when they insist on playing the game long after you've tired of it. ("Again, Mommy!") It can also be an exhausting task trying to get them to switch up their meal preferences.
So we've decided to just give them what they want. If it's pasta they desire most nights, here it comes. We'll just switch up the recipe with seasonal veggies and ingredients we love. Any complaints and you can just tell the pillow about it.
First up, we have Italian Roommate Pasta: a kid-pleasing recipe from -- you guessed it -- an Italian roommate.
Italian Roommate Pasta
(Makes 8 servings or 4 servings x 2 meals - leftovers for lunch anyone?)
4 medium zucchini, julienned
1 glug of olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup bacon, chopped into 1 to 2 inch pieces
1 500 gram package of whole wheat pasta
3 eggs
1 cup Parmesan, grated
pepper to taste
1. In a good sized pan, warm up your olive oil and add onions, garlic and bacon. Allow it all to sizzle away for about 5 to 7 minutes, until the bacon is starting to crisp up.
2. While that’s happening, put a big pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta and chop up your zucchini into matchsticks. You want them quite narrow.
3. Toss those veggies into the pan with the bacon and onion mixture. Give it all a good stir so that the zucchini gets well coated. Allow it to cook down for at least 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to turn over the vegetables. Some of the zucchini will start to disintegrate and that’s what you’re after, for some of it to be mushy and some to still be whole.
4. Once the water is boiling, cook your pasta according to the package instructions. We like this pasta with rotini, penne or fusilli – I really wouldn’t make it with long pasta. Drain it well and throw the cooked noodles into the vegetables and give it all a good stir.
5. In a small bowl, whisk up the eggs and stir in the grated parmesan. Pour the cheesy eggs into your noodles and mix well. Cook over medium heat until the sauce just sets. The whole thing will go from wet to gooey in just a few minutes.
Here are four more kid-pleasing weeknight pasta recipes:
Penne with Broccoli and Feta uses spelt pasta but you can toss this simple vegetable dish together with most any noodle variety.
Pasta with Basil and Artichokes is all about roasting vegetables like peppers, onion and artichoke to perfection and then tossing with pasta. Sounds good, right?
Spaghetti and Meatballs needs no introduction. Only a big appetite and plate.
Kale Pasta is a great way to get your greens and satisfy your carb cravings.
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